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Chance encounter — Discarded dog finds good home

By Kathy Lawitz / For the Sun-News

Posted:
01/11/2013 03:20:41 AM MST

Click photo to enlarge

Leslie Graor, center, found and rescued Barcey when she was dumped during last week's snowstorm. Her sister, Laura Smart, left, made the connections that resulted in Barcey finding a home with Ann Palormo, right.

Leslie Graor could still see the road where it ends near the water tank on Coronado Ridge as she and her two Jack Russell terriers, Fresco and Chico, crested a nearby desert rise during a walk in snowy weather on Jan. 3.

She saw a man in a red truck driving toward the end of the road as she disappeared down the other side of the slope. Then she heard the truck door slam shut, and the truck peeled out.

"I thought 'Oh, no, someone's dumped trash again,'" Graor said. The area near the water tank is a problem spot where people discard mattresses and other trash rather than going the short extra distance to the landfill.

She ran back to the top of the ridge, hoping to get a license plate number, but the truck was gone. And left behind was a scared, russet-colored dog, sitting alone in the snow and dirt.

"I tried to get her to come to me but she wouldn't because of the other dogs," Graor said. Living close by, she was able to put Fresco and Chico in the house and grab a dog treat in hopes of luring the abandoned canine.

The dog, a female, was thin and trembling, and kept her German-shepherd-like tail tucked between her legs as she followed Graor, who was able to get her into the garage. She observed that despite whatever she'd lived through, the dog's black-tipped coat was thick and shiny, covering the ribs that were evident when she turned a certain way. Though frightened, the dog seemed gentle and didn't bark.

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Graor's sister, Laura Smart, came over and they bathed the dog and named her Barcey, short for Barcelona Road, where she was dumped. And it was evident the Jack Russells were having issues with the newcomer, so they would have to look for a home for Barcey.

Later that day, Smart was driving east on West Picacho Avenue when it registered that she was driving past the office of the Doña Ana County Humane Society in the Desert Palms center. She made a U-turn and reported what happened and asked if there was any way DACHS could help. Her sister had already called Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary, which was full, and didn't want to surrender the dog to the Animal Service Center of the Mesilla Valley, the city/county-run shelter, which takes in so many unwanted pets that more than 50 percent of them are euthanized to make space for the never-ending flow.

It was agreed that Graor would take a photo of Barcey and send it to DACHS to be posted on their Facebook page, with the story about Barcey's plight. The post went up the next day, went viral in a matter of hours, and became a story in the Las Cruces Sun-News. Graor's phone started ringing with people wanting to help.

The person who she knew in her gut was the right candidate to adopt Barcey was the woman who called and asked "Can I come over to see her now?" That person was Ann Palormo, who works part time with the NMSU Foundation.

Palormo's husband died six years ago, and her last dog passed away just over five months ago. She had seen the photo of the russet-colored dog on Facebook. Having had larger canines all her life, and being without one, she made a quick decision: She'd like to have Barcey.

When Palormo came over, Graor had initial reservations about whether she could handle a larger dog. But Barcey is calm, not a "puller" on a leash, Graor said, and after observing them together for a while, she knew that the match would be a good one.

"I believe God can place all his animals in the right place, even the ones who have lost their way," Graor observed, noting that she rescued the two Jack Russells, abandoned, dirty and bleeding, on that same road nearly two years ago.

She helped load Barcey into Palormo's car; Barcey reluctant and worried about where a car would take her, according to Graor. There were tears afterward, Smart confided.

The next day, Palormo and Barcey visited Graor and Smart for a reunion and a photo session near the site where Barcey was found. As Barcey and the Jack Russells sniffed one another, Graor and Palormo discussed how Barcey was adjusting: eating a lot, settling into her new home, and soon off to the vet for a check-up.

As her rescuers - Graor, Smart and Palormo - gathered with Barcey for a photo on the road where she had been left in the snow just days earlier, the winter sky was never so blue, nor the sun so bright.

And as Palormo and Barcey finally began the drive back down the hill, Palormo observed Barcey in the back seat, gazing back at her rescuers.

"She must know they were good people," she said.

Editor's note: The visit to the vet revealed that Barcey is close to 3 years old, with no microchip, unspayed, and 10 pounds underweight. Palormo reports that Barcey is happily working on her weight, and is scheduled for her spay surgery.

Kathy Lawitz is executive director of the Doña Ana County Humane Society.

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